Passive direction finding device
First Claim
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1. A direction finding device for finding a bearing to a source radiating a signal, said device comprising:
- a first array of sensors disposed in a horizontal plane, each sensor in said array having a high center gain, and said sensors being spaced around a center point in said plane to receive said signal from one direction in said plane;
signal processing electronics joined to said array of sensors and accepting said received signals, said signal processing electronics measuring the average power of the signal received by each said sensor during a predetermined time interval and selecting two adjacent ones of said sensors having the greatest average power; and
a bearing estimator joined to said signal processing electronics, said bearing estimator calculating the bearing from said sensor array to said source using signals from said two adjacent ones of said sensors having the greatest average power and providing an estimated bearing signal responsive to said calculated bearing.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and a method for determining theearing of an object located at a distance from a reference point. A plurality of sensors are mounted to a body to detect signals emanating from the object and to convert those signals into electrical signals. The electrical signals are then processed to determine the bearing of the object from the body. The system can include a float with the body suspended from said float immersed in a fluid medium. A method for processing the electrical signals and generating the bearing information is also described.
45 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A direction finding device for finding a bearing to a source radiating a signal, said device comprising:
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a first array of sensors disposed in a horizontal plane, each sensor in said array having a high center gain, and said sensors being spaced around a center point in said plane to receive said signal from one direction in said plane; signal processing electronics joined to said array of sensors and accepting said received signals, said signal processing electronics measuring the average power of the signal received by each said sensor during a predetermined time interval and selecting two adjacent ones of said sensors having the greatest average power; and a bearing estimator joined to said signal processing electronics, said bearing estimator calculating the bearing from said sensor array to said source using signals from said two adjacent ones of said sensors having the greatest average power and providing an estimated bearing signal responsive to said calculated bearing. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A direction finding device for finding a bearing to a source radiating a signal, said device comprising:
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a first array of sensors disposed in a horizontal plane, each sensor in said array having a high center gain, and said sensors being spaced around a center point in said plane to receive said signal from one direction in said plane; signal processing electronics joined to said array of sensors and accepting said received signals, measuring the average power of the signal received by each said sensor during a predetermined time, and selecting two adjacent ones of said sensors having the greatest average power; a bearing estimator joined to said signal processing electronics, said bearing estimator calculating the bearing from said sensor array to said source using signals from said signal processing electronics and providing an estimated bearing signal responsive to said calculated bearing; a bias eliminating device joined to said bearing estimator to calculate the bias for said estimated bearing signal; and a first summer to combine said calculated bias with said estimated bearing signal to produce an unbiased bearing signal. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. A method for determining the bearing to an object radiating a signal, said method comprising the steps of:
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deploying at least one array of sensors in a horizontal plane so that said sensors are spaced around a center point in said plane; receiving signals from said object at said at least one array; measuring the power of said signals received from each of said sensors over a predetermined time interval; determining an average power signal for each of said sensors; selecting the two adjacent ones of said sensors with the largest average signal powers; and determining a bearing estimate of said object from said signals received by said two adjacent ones of said sensors. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for determining the bearing to an object radiating a signal, said method comprising the steps of:
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deploying at least one array of sensors in a horizontal plane so that said sensors are spaced around a center point in said plane; receiving signals from said object of said at least one array; measuring the power of said signals received from each of said sensors; selecting the two adjacent ones of said sensors with the largest signal powers; determining a bearing estimate of said object from said signals received by said two adjacent ones of said sensors, said bearing estimate determining step comprising forming a signal representative of the ratio of said signals from said two selected sensors and generating a signal representative of an estimate of said bearing from said ratio; and said bearing estimate determining step further comprising eliminating bias from said generating bearing estimate signal to form a signal representative of an unbiased bearing estimate. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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Specification